The present invention relates to a footrest clip for mounting a footrest on a vehicle body panel, which includes a shank to be inserted into and fixed on a hollow support extending from a rear surface of a step of the footrest and a vehicle body panel fixing portion formed in a region of the shank to be protruded out of the end of the support. The present invention also relates to a footrest assembly for mounting a footrest on a vehicle body panel using the clip.
A footrest is mounted on a vehicle body panel in order to support the foot of a car driver or occupant. Clips having the same configurations can be used for mounting a footrest to a vehicle body panel, even if a plurality of hollow supports extending from the rear surface of the footrest have different lengths, respectively. A clip may have further improvements to facilitate the detaching operation of the footrest. These conventional footrests to be mounted on vehicle body panels will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 as attached hereto. In FIGS. 1 and 2, a footrest 1 is formed with hollow tubular supports 3 and 5, each extending from a rear surface of a step 2 of the footrest 1 toward a vehicle body panel 6 (FIG. 3). As shown in FIG. 3, the footrest 1 is inclined to allow the foot of the car driver to be placed thereon comfortably, and thereby the support 3 and the support 5 have different lengths from each other. Clips 7 are inserted into and fixed to the supports 3 and 5, respectively. Even if the lengths of the supports 3 and 5 are different from each other, the clips 7 are formed in the same size and configuration. The footrest 1 is mounted on the vehicle body panel 6 as illustrated in FIG. 2 with attaching the clips 7 to the supports 3 and 5 as shown in FIG. 1. The vehicle body panel 6 is provided with rod-shaped studs 9 each having a thread or peripheral grooves in the side surface thereof and standing vertically on the vehicle body panel. The footrest 1 is positioned to allow each of the studs 9 to be received by the corresponding clip 7, and then the footrest is pushed to the studs. The resilient engagement pawl 10 is formed on each hollow shank of the clips to be engaged with the thread or the peripheral groove of the received stud 9, and thereby the footrest 1 can be mounted to the vehicle body panel only by the positioning and pushing operations.
FIG. 3 shows a state when the vehicle body panel 6 is deformed from the position of the double-dot chain line (or phantom line) to the position of the solid line by a collision or other causes. Due to this deformation, the footrest 1 mounted on the vehicle body panel 6 forces the foot 11 of the driver to move from the position of the double-dot chain line to the position of the solid line position. Thus, the force might be concentrated at a point 13 of the driver""s foot to damage the foot 11. The prior art has designed a footrest assembly that even if a vehicle body panel is deformed by a collision or the like, the footrest minimizes the height of the resulting thrust which is pressed against the foot of a driver so as to prevent the driver from being damaged. In this prior art footrest assembly, a stud is directly inserted into a hollow support without using a clip, and when the vehicle body panel is deformed by a collision or other factor, the stud is pressed and further inserted into the support to prevent the footrest from being thrusted. In this footrest assembly, no clip is used. Thus, if the stud is pressed and further inserted into the support of the footrest, the support will be broken, resulting in no possibility of the reuse of the footrest. In addition, although the thrusting of the footrest is prevented because the pressed stud is further inserted into the support, it is required for control of the footrest thrusting according to an amount of the pressing load to consider a plurality of factors, such as tensile strength and friction coefficient in the material of the support and the shape of the hole of the support. Thus, it is difficult to form a suitable support.
There are other prior art protective devices that protect other parts of the body, for example, the head of an occupant in a rear seat. In this type of device, the leg extending toward a mounting hole of a vehicle body panel is integrally formed at a rear surface of an interior trim and has a plurality of protrusions in an axial direction. If an excessive impact force or the like is applied to the leg, the protrusions can be broken to absorb shock so as to assure safety of occupants. That also uses no clip. Thus, when the leg of the interior trim is broken, it is required to replace the entire interior trim, resulting in no possibility of the reuse of the interior part. Further, since that device is not directed to a footrest, any suggestion on elimination of the influence of the deformation from the vehicle body panel is not included.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a footrest clip and a footrest assembly capable of relieving shock to the foot of a car driver or occupant in the event of a vehicle collision, of allowing a footrest to be reused even if an associated vehicle body panel has any deformation due to the vehicle collision, and of dealing with a collision force causing the deformation of the panel in an adequate manner to prevent the footrest from being thrust up.
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a footrest clip for mounting a footrest on a vehicle body panel, the footrest clip including a shank to be inserted into and fixed to a hollow tubular support extending from a rear surface of a step of the footrest, and a vehicle body panel fixing portion formed at a portion of the shank which is protruded out of the end of the support. The footrest clip is characterized in that a protrusion for defining the height of the footrest is provided at the side of the intermediate height region of the shank and is arranged to engage with the end of the support so as to prevent the shank from being further inserted; and the protrusion is formed on the side of the shank with such a strength that allows the protrusion to be shorn by the end of the support when a vehicle collision or the like provides an excessive impact force to make the shank further press to the support of the footrest, whereby even if the vehicle body panel is deformed toward the step of the footrest, the thrust applied to the step and directed to the foot of a car driver can be eliminated or minimized. Thus, the shock to the foot of the driver or occupant in the event of a vehicle collision can be relieved, and the footrest can be reused even if the vehicle body panel is deformed due to the collision. In addition, the collision force causing the deformation of the panel can be adequately dealt only by controlling or presetting the shearing load of the protrusion.
In the above clip, it is preferable that the shank includes an resilient engagement portion to be engaged with an engagement hole of the support when inserted into the support so as to prevent the shank from falling down from the support. Further, the resilient engagement portion may have a resilience allowing the resilient engagement portion to get out of the engagement hole of the support when the above excessive impact force is applied to the shank. Preferably, the shank portion protruded from the end of the support is hollowed to receive a rod-shaped stud which stands on the vehicle body panel and has a side surface formed with a thread or peripheral grooves, wherein the vehicle body panel fixing portion includes a resilient engagement pawl to be engaged with the thread or peripheral groove of the stud received by the hollowed shank portion. Alternatively, the vehicle body panel fixing portion may be an anchoring-leg engagement portion to be inserted into and engaged with a mounting hole formed in the vehicle body panel.
Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a footrest assembly including a footrest and a clip for mounting the footrest on a vehicle body panel, wherein a shank of the clip is inserted into and fixed to a hollow tubular support extending from a rear surface of a step of the footrest, and the clip is provided with a vehicle body panel fixing portion formed in a region of the shank protruded out of the end of the support. The footrest assembly is characterized in that the clip comprises a protrusion for defining the height of the footrest, which is provided at the side of the intermediate height region of the shank and is arranged to engage with the end of the support so as to prevent the shank from being further inserted; and the protrusion is formed on the side of the shank with such a strength that allows the protrusion to be shorn by the end of the support when a vehicle collision or the like provides an excessive impact force to make the shank further press to the support of the footrest, whereby even if the vehicle body panel is deformed toward the step of the footrest, the thrust applied to the step and directed to the foot of a car driver can be eliminated or minimized. Thus, in the event of a vehicle collision, the shock to the foot of the driver or occupant can be relieved, and the footrest can be reused even if the vehicle body panel is deformed due to the collision. In addition, the collision force causing the deformation of the panel can be adequately dealt only by controlling or presetting the shearing load of the protrusion.
In the above footrest assembly, it is preferable that the support of the footrest is formed with an engagement hole in a region of the support into which the shank of the clip is received, and the shank of the clip is formed with a resilient engagement portion to be engaged with the engagement hole in a shank region inserted into the support. In this assembly, it is preferable that the resilient engagement portion and the engagement hole of the support are formed in a configuration allowing the resilient engagement portion to get out of the engagement hole of the support when the above excessive impact force is applied to the shank. The vehicle body panel may be provided with a rod-shaped stud which stands thereon and has a side surface formed with a thread or peripheral grooves, wherein the shank of the clip is hollowed to receive the stud, and the vehicle body panel fixing portion includes a resilient engagement pawl to be engaged with the thread or peripheral groove of the stud received by the hollow shank. Further, the vehicle body panel may be formed with a mounting hole, and the vehicle body panel fixing portion of the clip may include an anchoring-leg engagement portion to be inserted into and engaged with the mounting hole.